MarTech Edge Q&A with Adam Rossow, Group RFZ

 

Brand lift studies are a form of market research that involves measuring how a campaign impacts how an audience thinks, feels and intends to act as it relates to a product or brand. To measure brand lift, we gather online survey feedback from two groups – an exposed group and a control group. 

 

When it comes to influencer marketing, the exposed group is comprised of people who have seen the campaign content – whether it was a TikTok video, reel, YouTube short or another kind of creative – either naturally or through a custom-designed digital feed. The control group is a lookalike audience that did not see the content and is as similar as possible to the exposed group in terms of their demographics, specific attitudes, category use, awareness levels and other traits. 

 

Both groups are asked to take the exact same online survey, which is designed according to the objectives of the influencer program’s objectives. The results, which are typically expressed as a percentage lift, are derived by comparing the differences in the survey responses between the two groups. Since the exposure to the influencer content is the only meaningful dissimilarity between the two groups, any lift between the groups can be attributed to the influencer campaign or program. For instance, if the survey finds that 20% of the control group is likely to purchase the product in question in the next month and 40% of the exposed group said they’re likely to purchase it, the campaign resulted in a 20-point increase in purchase intent.  

 

When it comes to metrics, we evaluate the top of the funnel down to the mid-funnel, including purchase intent, likelihood to consider, favorability, brand love, recall, awareness and brand attributes. 

 

 

AI is transforming businesses in all different ways, and influencer marketing is no exception. That said, it’s not necessarily being used by influencers as much as one might guess. That’s because leaning on AI tools such as ChatGPT minimizes an influencer’s pride in their creative content and it also detracts from the one quality that makes them successful: authenticity. Relationships between influencers and their followers is built almost solely on authenticity and the vast majority won’t risk sounding remotely synthetic just to save a little time and creative energy. 

 

Brands have many more opportunities to tap into the power of AI. For example, AI is making it exceedingly more efficient to find the exact right influencers to collaborate with. It used to be that marketers would have to scour databases using only basic filters such as industry, follower count and location. Now, with AI at play, it’s possible to search with much greater precision and pinpoint influencers that perfectly align with your values, audience and campaign goals. AI can also help brands analyze their campaigns at a much deeper level and glean more insights to inform future campaigns, as well as help brainstorming on their creative briefs that they supply to influencers.   

 

AI is bound to make influencer marketing more streamlined, approachable and measurable, but it won’t be an easy button.  

 

 

TikTok could be banned in the US as soon as January because of the social media company’s ties to China, and that has the world stirring. A ban could have implications for influencer marketing, particularly for brands selling to Gen Z and other audiences that are hard to find through traditional channels. 

 

That said, I don’t anticipate the ban – if it is implemented – to turn influencer marketing on its head. The repercussions will really be dependent on where you sit in the influencer ecosystem. Influencers who have hitched themselves just to TikTok will have the biggest hurdles to overcome because it’ll mean essentially starting from the ground up, and building follower relationships and developing new content that’s tailored for other social channels. 

 

For influencer agencies and brands, I see it as more of a bump in the road. Influencer marketing was a proven strategy before TikTok appeared and became the “it” platform, and I don’t believe a ban will slow it down because it simply works too well. It will, however, force brands and agencies to ensure they’re not too dependent on a single channel or outlet. The good news there is that there are plenty of strong channels such as YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, as well as emerging alternatives such as Clapper and Triller that can fill the gap. 

 

In the near term, marketers should be preparing by executing more broadly and on multiple platforms, as well as doing a lot of testing on other platforms. Our take is that perpetual testing is always a good idea anyway.

 

Once the burning question of “Where will 150 million U.S. TikTok users go?” is answered, marketers will shift back to more focused plans rather than being quite as broad. 

 

 

The risk in my opinion is significant. Authenticity, believability and trust are cornerstones of influencer marketing and, in large part, the reason it’s so impactful. There are always outliers, but most of influencer marketing revolves around creators who aren’t household names. They have grown their following organically, post what’s meaningful or interesting, and partner with brands they know, use and often align with on values. They are their authentic selves, complete with all the flaws, issues and idiosyncrasies that make them relatable. That is why people follow them and listen to their recommendations.

 

AI is artificial, both in name and reality. And while AI influencers present certain distinct advantages in terms of cost, message control and scalability, they can torpedo the good will and trust that so many influencers have worked tirelessly to build and maintain. 

 

The main issue stems from the fact that they are, of course, not real. This means their backstories are carefully manufactured, their messaging points scripted, and their likeness often shaped to adhere to some expectation or stereotype. They haven’t had any life experiences to draw from, nor any real interactions or connections that have made an impact. Does any of that sound authentic to you?

 

All that said, not being real is only part of the problem. The bigger issue is that too many people think they are real. Most people don’t know about all the latest tech and goings-on in the social and influencer space. They are unaware that virtual influencers even exist. The tech has gotten to a point where, if the creator of a virtual influencer wants them to be unrecognizable as AI to most, they can be.  It’s one thing to know something is inauthentic because it’s AI and fake. You can take that at face value and make your own decision. However, not knowing makes it more than just inauthentic, it makes it duplicitous. 

 

 

Brand lift studies in the influencer space have come a long way. If they are designed and implemented correctly, they can tell you not just if a campaign succeeded, but exactly what aspects moved the needle and where to focus and invest going forward. Just understanding awareness, favorability and intent is table stakes. These days, it’s possible to get deeper and understand the drivers and perceptions that frame everything. From how the campaign impacted brand trust, to relevance, to value, to other key attributes – brand lift can unearth all of these. 

 

Moreover, brand lift studies can get very granular and break out results by almost any campaign ingredient. For example, a brand lift study can reveal if certain messages were stickier on TikTok or Instagram, if micro-influencers increased purchase intent more than a celebrity influencer or if humorous content was more impactful than educational content. If designed correctly upfront, brand lift studies can provide invaluable information around audiences, creative, channels and the influencers themselves. And, all that information is mapped back to a program or series of programs, so the attribution for any movement is clear, not an amalgamation of other marketing activities and factors. 

 

In all, brand lift studies are more than just a way for brands to prove success against their goals. They are a way to test and learn, correct course and invest in the right ingredients to maximize impact and ROI. In influencer marketing there is always a new channel, a new trend to hop on and an internal dialogue about which influencers will have the most impact. The question of what’s next can be a daunting one, but brand lift brings real insight and clarity to that decision-making process.